


bloom (how do i wash the blood from my hands?)

by orphan_account



Series: bloom au [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Civil War (Marvel), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Hospitals, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insecure Tony Stark, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Major Character Injury, Not A Fix-It, Not Canon Compliant, POV Alternating, The Avengers (2012) - Freeform, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump, flower symbolism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 01:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18713515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: in which tony stark loves the universe, but the universe doesn't love him.





	bloom (how do i wash the blood from my hands?)

**Author's Note:**

> in which i say fuck you canon, grab the steering wheel and veer WAY off the beaten path. keep an eye out for alternating povs and tense switches, sorry not sorry. thank you to aj, legendofgreenbadgers24, for beta-ing this for me. love you darling.  
> hope you all enjoy!
> 
> *edit; please note that there are spoilers in the comments! if you're reading this for the first time, please please have discresion.

The flowers weren’t always a Thing. Finding information on the history of them was always spotty: unreliable sources and all that. The few books that were accurate were written in the Ancient Language: a language no ordinary person could understand. From what was translated, human were able to decipher a bit more about the flowers adorning their skin.

  
Like most things, magic was the root of the flowers. There were no exact details; the books mentioned something about a Goddess, but every source points to a specific magician. This magician had craved a glimpse into someone’s true self: the Goddess heard his prayer and, after seeing humanity evolve, decided to place these glimpses onto the skin. Not much else is known about the origin of the flowers. From there, the books move into the more common details:  
Every person had a soulflower. This was a flower unique to them and their fate-chosen soulmate. Some soulmates never met: some lived long lives together. It was a chance at an endless love, if one was lucky enough to grasp it.

The death flowers were the most prominent flowers. They appear first on the person’s fingers, then, once all ten have a flower, begin creeping up from their feet. These are permanent and never fade from the skin. Through centuries of trial and experimentation, humanity came up with… guidelines, so to speak. They figured out the boundaries of the death flowers, which are as follows:

  
If a person kills someone, they get a flower. It doesn’t matter if it was accidental or not. However, it was proved that it matters who pulls the trigger. Examples were outlined in the man-written history books. For example, the manufacturer of the weapon will not get the flowers, just the person who committed the murder.

  
They also figured out the extent of the flowers. What exactly counted as a death? What didn’t count? What counted as an indirect death? These questions were answered by another magician twenty years after the first book was found. She learned that people get indirect flowers for things that they could have prevented. Things like natural disasters, unstable buildings and medical reasons (like someone dying on the operating table, CPR not working, etc) did not count, as they could not have been avoided. She also proved that people do not get flowers in the situation that someone died because said person did not know how to help. This, in many ways, relieved the guilt of those who had to bear the burden of being helpless in the face of danger.

Lastly, flower immunity was discovered. This was a very rare genetic mutation, only affecting about one in eight million people. Essentially, this mutation allowed people to kill others without having to bear the burden or responsibility of flowers. There was no cure, nothing that could make it go away: so people just learned to live with it, like they did everything else. The rest of the information was sealed off, lost somewhere where no one could find it. There were stories of why the ancient ones had chosen to do this: ranging from spite to ‘humanity wasn’t ready’, but nothing was ever confirmed. Because of this, it took a long time for the flower ratios to be discovered. The information on them was spotty at best. What people did know was that, once someone’s kill count got high enough, the one-flower-per-death rule started to change. Science couldn’t prove how, or why: it just… happened. No one knows their true ratio.

Tony Stark had many secrets.  
Some of them were public knowledge: most of them were not.  
Like the fact he’s got flowers up to his thighs.

  
The universe didn’t take kindly to him building and handing over the blueprints for the JOSTACA bombs, along with the countless other weapons he was forced to create. It didn’t care about the fact Tony was manipulated and lied to, told that the things he created were protecting his country and soldiers. All it cared about was the death, proving Tony’s part by the flowers that creeped up his legs. There were exactly three people he trusted with this knowledge, one of which was an AI: James Rhodes, Pepper Potts, and JARVIS. It was a need to know basis, and no one else needed to know.

  
They were also the only people who knew Tony for Tony, and not Tony the Public Figure- Genius-  
Billionaire-Playboy-Philanthropist-Murderer. They were able to see behind the mask, eventually wriggling  
their way into his life. They took his shit, set him straight, and made him a better person. Tony figured he’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere without them. Currently, Rhodey was lounging around the penthouse suite. He’d heard about the so-called Avengers Initiative, and was, frankly, quite pissed at Natalia’s evaluation:

  
“Iron Man recommend. Tony Stark not recommended.”  
He’d seen the way those two words had crushed his best friend (basically brother): the way his face had fallen for a millisecond before smoothing out into Tony’s signature smirk even in the safety of his own home. It was just the two of them, which only concerned the colonel even more. It had been ages since Tony had put his walls up around him; the last being an accidental kiss at sixteen, Tony too drunk to care and Rhodey too surprised to move. The next two weeks which had followed were tense and quiet, too quiet.

”I see what you’re doing Tony, and I’m telling you to stop it. Don’t you dare shelter yourself or pull away now. I didn’t run when I saw your flowers and I’m sure as hell not gonna run now.”

Tony’s face fell seconds after the words left Rhodey’s mouth, facade gone as quickly as it had come. Rhodey watched as Tony’s jaw clenched, face crumbling as he desperately tried to keep in emotions in check. A quick glance showed no one was in the room-- no one but them. A safe space for Tony to actually feel, not just brush it off and keep his emotions bottled up like a powder keg until he explodes.

  
James Rhodes had seen too many explosions. All it took was Rhodey opening his arms and Tony was there, hiding from the world and a sentence too cruel. Rhodey was probably biased, sure, but that wouldn’t stop him.  
It took two hours for Tony to calm down, and three for him to fall asleep, exhausted by the day’s events.  
Three days later, the so called avengers moved in. Not a lot was said on their SHIELD files: the mandated stuff, sure, but the flowers and how high they creeped were not. Everyone knew Tony Stark had flowers, but his fellow teammates had no idea just how high they went.

Tony learned Clint was immune during a round of mario kart, and that Natasha had them up littering the tops of her feet. They were from her time in the red room, Natasha claimed. They slowed when she joined SHIELD, based on protection using less deadly means. She always had a hard look in her eye when she talked about them, so Tony thought it best to avoid bringing up the subject around her again. Clint had simply shrugged, said they never showed up, then proceeded to beat Tony’s ass with wario of all people.

  
In return, Natasha and Clint learned that Tony Stark could bullshit with the best of them. The saying of ‘you can’t bullshit a bullshitter’ clearly didn’t apply to him, because he could call someone out and bullshit with the best of them. The assassin pair learned Tony’s mother was italian, and he made the best damn hot chocolate that no one was privy the recipe to.

He learns that Thor has them up to his hips during an insomnia wracked night. More than me, he thinks, before remembering that Thor is over 1500 years old. They’re barely noticeable, white against pale asgardian skin hide the flowers quite easily. He learns how, even if a creature is not of this realm, it still counts for the asgardians. How guilt takes Thor by the throat some nights, relentless and unforgiving. Thor learns the Son of Stark has seen many things, things that no man should ever have to bear the burden of. Stark gains Thor’s respect and, in return, is fed a delicious italian dish he can understand but not pronounce.

Tony learns in an accident that Bruce and the Hulk, while they may share a body, are not the same. Bruce is quiet and smart as hell, has three haunting flowers on his right fingers. Tony doesn’t pry, and Bruce doesn’t tell him: some secrets are best left unsaid. Tony learns Bruce is more like him in ways he hadn’t thought of, that he loves science and will gladly humor Tony. Tony learns the Hulk has flowers up to his mid thighs, protectiveness over his human counterpart glaringly obvious to anyone who takes more than a glance.

Bruce learns that Tony is vulnerable; that his past wasn’t all sunshine and roses like he’d previously believed. He learns that Tony’s been deeply hurt, but isn’t close enough to him to be given the details. He learns that Tony isn’t good with emotions, built Dum-E when he was sixteen and drunk off his ass on vodka and scotch. The next night there’s a container of the matcha gelato he’d been eyeing in the freezer labeled ‘Brucie Bear’s’ and, when Clint dares to try and steal some, JARVIS threatens him with an untimely demise starting with crazy glue in his shampoo.

Steve, for reasons everyone knows, is the last Tony learns about. He learns that Steve has PTSD ingrained into him but was forced to ignore it, and quickly makes Steve know that therapy is an option. That things have changed since the 40’s and mental health is an Actual Thing now. He learns that Steve has flowers up littering his shins from the war, the universe not caring he was fighting for his country. He learns Steve still has old-minded thinking, which is to be expected, and JARVIS forwards Steve some information to his personal tablet. He learns Steve is terrified of the cold and refuses any drinks with ice in it.  
Steve learns Tony loves too hard too fast. He learns that Tony’s been hardened by years and years of the world not giving him a break, of the cruelty.

He learns to see the man behind the mask of arrogance and cockiness, instead looking into the eyes of a man who’s too kind for his own good. He’s graced with Tony’s Italian, the language flowing through the billionaire's lips like water through a stream. Steve didn’t know languages could sound so beautiful.

 

The team learns how fiercely Virginia “Pepper” Potts and James “Rhodey” Rhodes love Tony on a cold december night. They’d crossed a line they really shouldn’t have crossed, causing Tony to retreat and block them out like they had just reversed all progress that had been made. Pepper shows up first, back straight and heels clacking ominously against the tile. She gives them a dressing down so cold it makes Nat take a step back, before turning around and asking JARVIS if he could please take her down to Tony’s lab. James is left to offer up an explanation after coming up from the lab one night, the avengers not knowing he was there until he appeared.

“The arc reactor is.. a very touchy subject. Stay away from any mentions of that, along with Howard-” a glance in his direction has Steve fiddling with the end of his cashmere sweater, guiltily.

  
“- and you should be fine. He forgives you, obviously, but hear him out when he explains himself. I’ve told him multiple times he doesn’t have to, but trauma will do that to you.” James’ arms are crossed as he stands in front of the elevator, as if daring someone to try and go through him to get to Tony. When no ones moves an inch he sighs, arms going back to his sides. This wasn’t how he imagined spending his leave, but there’s no place he’d rather be.

The Chitauri invade and they fight side by side as equals, trust woven through them like a strong and sturdy rope. Clint jumps and Tony catches, Steve turns and Nat covers his six. The Hulk pays attention to where he’s smashing, for once, to not hurt any of his family. Tony flies a missile into space, and they all swear they feel their hearts stop. It’s Nat who confirms their fears when she whispers, voice full of fear, he’s not going to make it as the wormhole closes. At the last possible second the man they owe everything to falls through, screams filling the street as the falls down down down and doesn’t stop. The Hulk catches him not a moment too soon, JARVIS shocking his creator’s heart back to life with the aid of the arc reactor.

  
As they learn more about each other and fight side by side, the avengers stop becoming so much a team and more of a family. They’re bruised and broken and a mess, but they’re a family. At least, Tony thinks so.

The universe, it seems, is desperate to prove him wrong in the form of two twins who volunteered for HYDRA’s experiments and an AI built with the best intentions gone rogue.  
Of course, Tony takes the blame.


End file.
